Manager Mike Scioscia listens to new Angels General Manager Jerry Dipoto during the press conference Saturday afternoon at Angel Stadium. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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New Angels General Manager Jerry Dipoto is interviewed after a press conference Saturday afternoon at Angel Stadium. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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New Angels General Manager Jerry Dipoto, center, shakes hands with owner Arte Moreno after the press conference announcing his new position Saturday afternoon. Senior Vice President John Carpino is at left. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

New Angels General Manager Jerry Dipoto poses with his family, wife Tamie, daughters Taylor, left, and Jordan, and son Jonah after the press conference announcing his new position Saturday afternoon. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Jerry Dipoto's wife Tamie, at left, chats with her children Jonah, Taylor and Jordan, from left, after the press conference announcing their fathers new job as General Manager Saturday afternoon at Angel Stadium. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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New Angels General Manager Jerry Dipoto poses for a portrait after the press conference announcing his new position Saturday afternoon. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

New Angels General Manager Jerry Dipoto poses for a portrait after the press conference announcing his new position Saturday afternoon. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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New Angels General Manager Jerry Dipoto, right, walks with owner Arte Moreno before the press conference announcing his new position Saturday afternoon. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Jerry Dipoto's wife Tamie, at left, chats with her children Jonah, Taylor and Jordan, from left, after the press conference announcing their fathers new job as General Manager Saturday afternoon at Angel Stadium. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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New Angels General Manager Jerry Dipoto shakes hands with Senior Vice President John Carpino during the press conference announcing his hiring Saturday afternoon. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Jerry Dipoto's family sits next to owner Arte Moreno and his wife during the press conference announcing his new position Saturday afternoon. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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New Angels General Manager Jerry Dipoto poses with his family, wife Tamie, daughters Taylor, left, and Jordan, and son Jonah, at right, after the press conference announcing his new position Saturday afternoon. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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New Angels General Manager Jerry Dipoto poses for a portrait after the press conference announcing his new position Saturday afternoon. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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New Angels General Manager Jerry Dipoto poses with his family, wife Tamie, daughters Taylor, left, and Jordan, and son Jonah after the press conference announcing his new position Saturday afternoon. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

New Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto talks with media during a press conference Saturday afternoon at Angel Stadium. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

ANAHEIM – Even before he had the opportunity to run an organization, Jerry Dipoto had written the book on how he thought it should be done.

When Dipoto interviewed with Angels owner Arte Moreno and team president John Carpino for the team's vacant general manager position, he brought along a book in which he had written down all his thoughts and philosophies about how a baseball organization should be run – everything from how he would set up a scouting department to thoughts on team travel.

"I call it a 'living document,'" Dipoto said. "It's always evolving. ... I started putting it on paper maybe five years ago."

Dipoto had used it in interviews for GM positions with the Mariners, Nationals and Diamondbacks over the past few years as well as discussions with the Orioles and Angels this fall. After making his pitch to Moreno and Carpino, Dipoto left a copy of the 40- to 45-page book with them.

Whether they read it or not, the Angels were impressed enough with Dipoto's thorough presentation and well-rounded background to make him their GM (the 11th in franchise history) and give him more job security than either of his predecessors under Moreno. Dipoto was signed to a three-year deal that comes with two one-year options, potentially creating a five-year commitment (longer than either Bill Stoneman or Tony Reagins ever had) that could run through the 2016 season.

"His philosophy, his beliefs, his coming through a lot of different organizations in different roles," Carpino said, listing the things that impressed him about Dipoto who spent eight seasons in the majors as a pitcher then scouted and worked in the front offices of the Rockies, Red Sox and Diamondbacks in a variety of roles.

"I think baseball has a lot of different languages, so to speak. To be able to speak to the major-league manager, the scouts, the advance scouts, everything else – he was just so well-rounded in that respect it made it a very easy choice for Arte and I.

"It (the search for a new GM) was a long process. ... We wanted to be sure and today we're very sure."

The diversity on Dipoto's resume makes it difficult to put a label on him.

He clearly has an affinity for the increased emphasis on statistical analysis (something Moreno has indicated was important in the Angels' new GM) and ties to those seen as the new-age thinkers in baseball front offices. He worked with new Padres GM Josh Byrnes in Colorado, Boston and Arizona and worked under then-Red Sox GM Theo Epstein (earning a World Series ring as a scout for the Red Sox in 2004).

But his background as a former big-leaguer who did time in the scouting world grounds him in that "old-school" element.

"To best describe me, I think you would use the word 'balance,'" Dipoto said. "I like to be diverse. I like to be balanced in what I do, in life as a general rule. In putting together a baseball team, in putting together a baseball department – look for that diversity. Try to turn over every stone. You can't do only one thing and not the other. Be open-minded.

"Every player is going to be different. Every circumstance is going to be a little different. Every organization is going to be different and if you don't understand how to strike the balance between statistical performance and the scouting point of view, between economics and the reality of what happens on the field – it's a game that requires balance."

Dipoto indicated building a strong farm system would be "very important to me" – "there's no farm system out there that's deep enough," he said – and expressed admiration for the way the Angels have played under Manager Mike Scioscia. But he did say "there are some general tweaks" he would make to the organization's philosophy.

"I wouldn't call it a personal stamp. There are things that I believe in," he said. "I believe that the team that controls the counts controls the game. That is something that will be passed along to our young players as they are coming through. I don't believe in creating passive players. I believe in creating aggressive, what I would call 'makeup' players. I like the way this team has historically played. I wouldn't change that."

As Dipoto described it, "count control" means a preference for strike-throwers on the mound and a recognition of the importance of on-base percentage at the plate. Angels pitchers have been good at that – their 476 walks in 2011 ranked 22th in the majors. But Angels hitters? Not so much. While struggling offensively the past two seasons, the Angels have ranked 27th (.311 in 2010) and 21st (.313 in 2011) in OBP.

"If you're not 'OB,' you're probably not going to win a lot of games," Dipoto said of the importance of OBP. "I obviously hold in esteem guys who can get on base – and who can move around the bases. ... The primary objective is to do damage."

Dipoto's first priority on the job will be to assemble a staff. In addition to Reagins' dismissal, the Angels also fired longtime assistant GM Ken Forsch and special assistant Gary Sutherland and did not renew the contract of director of player development Abe Flores. There have also been changes in the scouting department each of the past two years.

Not surprisingly, Dipoto said he had some definite ideas about who he wants to fill those positions and will start making calls this week. He also plans to meet extensively with Scioscia in order to start evaluating the players currently on the Angels' roster and what the team's offseason direction needs to be. Teams can begin signing free agents as soon as Thursday. The annual GM meetings are scheduled for Nov. 15-16 with the winter meetings less than three weeks after that.

"I don't think there's anything in the way of wholesale changes that needs to be made," Dipoto said. "This is a team that won 86 games last year, has been to the postseason six of the past 10 years. That's pretty extraordinary.

"This (roster) doesn't need to be turned over with a great deal of change. ... What needs to be done in the short term is to add the right spice to the stew so it tastes good in October."

Back-to-back seasons with no October baseball clearly left a bad taste in the mouth of the Angels owner.

"To me, we had reached a point where we were sort of bumping into a ceiling," Moreno said, recalling disappointments in the playoffs over past seasons as well as the past two playoff-less years. "We needed someone to drive us forward and get through that to the next level. That's why we felt we needed to make some changes."

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